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BBC News Output And Impartiality Under Investigation By Ofcom

Finally, after many years of public disquiet about the bias of the BBC News department and political affairs programming towards the Conservatives and the continued attacks upon Labour and more recently Jeremy Corbyn; their 'journalists' such as Laura Kuensberg and presenters such as Andrew Neil, will be under the spotlight of the regulator.

This website has run news items on the bias of the media against Labour and Jeremy Corbyn and welcomes the forthcoming Ofcom investigation.

It is to be noted that unlike most TV News programmes, BBC News seldom interviews key figures in their political reports, but instead features their political editor giving viewers their 'opinion' of the even concerned and broadcasts that as authoritative news coverage.

But the problem in the BBC TV and Radio news reporting has been an issue for many years as most Trade Unions and their activists will know. Industrial disputes are an area were bias of reporting against the workforce and their Unions is punctuated by lack of accurate detail, errors by omissions, and deliberate lack of Trade Union spokesperson interviews or quoting.

The Miner's Strike in the '80s remains to this day an example of bias anti-Trade Union reporting, as do events on demonstrations involving the police when inaccurate reporting of attendances is used to downplay public support for the cause involved. Indeed recent major events with regard to both the NHS privatisation, food banks, and Brexit; were not even covered or reported on by the BBC News TV and Radio outlets.

The most glaring example of bias of course is the recent attacks on Jeremy Corbyn regarding anti-Semitism claims and the physical assault on him with a fist rather than an egg! The broadcaster never bothered to cover the issue, with the majority of other news media outlets either ignoring it or reporting falsely he was hit with an egg as opposed to his attacker's fist!

The eventual outcome of Ofcom's findings will certainly be of interest to the majority of Trade Unionists and Labour Party supporters, who will no doubt be hopeful of a non-biased outcome.

Ofcom's review of the BBC News document states:

This review aims to understand how different audiences engage with BBC news and current affairs, and the role it plays in their broader news consumption and in the news environment more broadly.

We will ask audiences their views on the BBC’s news and current affairs provision across TV, radio and online. We intend to focus on the following areas:

• Relevance: We will examine how effective the BBC is at serving all audiences, including those who typically engage with it less – and the reasons for that. We will look at the role the BBC plays in helping people understand the world around them, and how they engage with its content. We will also consider how well the BBC is placed to continue serving audiences in the future, with a changing news landscape.
• ii) Distinctiveness and quality: We will explore audience views on how the BBC reports complex and challenging stories while maintaining the quality that audiences value. We will look at the range and depth of analysis in its news and current affairs, across all platforms, and how this compares with other UK news providers.
• iii) Trust: We will assess how people’s views on the accuracy and impartiality of the BBC drive their trust in it. This review will not assess the BBC’s formal compliance with the ‘due impartiality’ 9 and ‘due accuracy’ requirements of the Ofcom

You can download the review terms of reference document entitled Review of BBC news and current affairs by clicking on the pic above.

Source: Ofcom / unionsafety

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